In my research (note: not PRACTISE) of the sports of BJJ and catch-as-catch-can wrestling, the fundamental similarity between BJJ and Catch seem to be that catch concentrates on limb breaks and chokes and so does BJJ, yet Catch practitioners dislike fighting from their back. I have to agree. Catch also appears to teach T3H D1RTY
What are the DIFFERENCES?
Catch fighters grab your fucking fingers and toes and do the crocodile deathspin. Fuckers…
From my limited knowledge (this means I’m talking out of my ass) I think Catch seems to rely mainly on pain compliance.
BJJ’s good.
CATCH WRESTLING WAS DEVELOPED TO NOT USE THUMBS SINCE CATCH WRESTLERS LACK THEM DUE TO TRACTOR ACCIDENTS AND/OR INBREEDING.
YOU SHOULD NOTE THAT TRACTOR ACCIDENTS AND INBREEDING ARE OFTEN CONCURRENT EVENTS WHEN CATCH WRESTLERS ARE INVOLVED.
BJJers like to out position their opponents. Catch wrestlers try to convince you that the omoplata is a valid rear mount escape.
The main difference is that BJJ exists, and Catch doesn’t.
oh snap!~
Well, I’ll give it a wing, so here goes.
1:
The big differences I can toss at you right away.
In BJJ you often here “position before submission”
whereas in catch, you could consider the philosophy to be the reverse.
BJJ will often stress attaining a more dominant position and in doing so, opening up more submission opportunities. In contrast, catch wrestling philosophy has to do with being able to attack from any position, hence the great variety of footlocks that its famous for. Even when giving their backs, its not uncommon to see them attempt footlocks (say a figure four toehold) on their opponents hooks rather than escape. In this respect, you’d been more likely to see BJJ fighters doing more guard passing and catch wrestlers attacking the feet.
2:
As far as BJJ favoring the guard- it doesnt, it simply acknowledges that a fight can be won from ones back, and if worked on well enough, this skill can prove to be very usefull. Natrually catch wrestling, having been associated with freestyle, greco, and folkstyle, saw the bottom positions as not being too effective.
In this respect, you’re more likely to see two catch wrestlers fight for top position superiority rather than the BJJ fighters who would play the game you so commonly see in today’s submission wrestling tournaments. Matt Hughes vs Sean Sherk would be a good example of the first, while Ricco Rodriguez vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would be a good example of the BJJ fighters.
3:
Catch wrestling would happen to favor submissions that could be applied without the potential to lose a position. According to this philosophy, submissions such as keylocks and bicep cutters would be much more popular than your standard armbar, for the fact that if you miss an armbar, you usually end up on the bottom.
Ken Shamrock, who was taught under catch philosophy, would be a good example to watch- for instance his fight with Alexander Otsuka where he grapevined his legs in the mount and inisisted on his keylock submission. Rickson Gracies matches with Takada would show him going for armbars and such.
4:
Catch was also not very adept at chokeholds. I can somewhat remember what Shamrock was saying about it- something along the lines of chokes are sometimes more difficult to see by the audience than joint locks (and catch in the form of Pancrase was intended to be entertainment). BJJ approached this from a strictly self defense point of view, and natrually the addition of a gi to the style meant a much greater variety of choke holds were available (if you ever wondered why it appeared as if Ken didnt do a great job of defending his neck in UFC 1, now you know)
5:
Consider the pain compliance moves you’re referring to- catch wrestling had its peak in the US with traveling canivals which would offer money- “pin our wrestler” Natrually, there were discrepancies over what was and wasnt a pin, and whether the pin was held long enough. These matches eventually changed to “make our wrestler give up” which is when you were able to throw all these submissions in there. This of course is hypothetical from my point of view, but a pain compliance move would most likely be a safer option than say a joint lock which breaks your opponents joints- if people were too scared to go against your wrestler, no one would fight him- if no one fights him, he doesnt make you any money.
Nowadays submission wrestling has incorporated so many styles into it that you rarely see anyone from a pure style anymore. This years recent Abu Dhabi showcased many BJJ fighters attacking with great footlock combinations, which was previously seen as their weakness. With the all the techniques and teachers out there, everything is coming together as one.
You know, doing LESS reserach and MORE practise wouldn’t hurt.
THE MOST RECENT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CATCH WRESTLING AND BJJ IS THAT SAKURABA DOESN’T WASTE HIS TIME LEARNING TO OUTWIT CARNIVAL-GOERS ANYMORE.
Yes it would.
Also… the patches.
Catch Wrestlers have patches on the holes in their Overalls. BJJ guys have cool Brazilian patches that don’t even cover holes!
CATCH WRESTLERS HONESTLY THINK WRESTLING SHOES LOOK COOL.
You can find someone to teach you BJJ, but catch wrestling is harder to find than bigfoot.
BJJ WAS NOT DESIGNED TO WORK ON YOUR BREEDING SOW.
Excellent post! Regardless of what these other nutriders might say…
Great job!
CATCH WRESTLING DOES NOT HAVE A POINT SYSTEM SINCE THEY CANNOT COUNT THAT HIGH AND/OR THEY LACK THE FINGERS TO DO SO.
The one thing keeping this out of Naruto !